Pipelines disturb neighborhoods, families, farms & forests

Residents look to township codes to block Sunoco pipeline

Photo: Workers install 20-inch epoxy-coated pipes on the Mariner East 2 pipeline in the rolling hills of Washington County, Pa., February 16, 2017. They can lay 2,000 to 3,000 feet per day.

Noise affects all ages of mankind!

‘Better and better and better and better’

From an Article by Ken Ward, Jr., Charleston Gazette-Mail, February 11, 2017

Commenting in his speech about the state’s natural gas industry, Justice said, “We need to do everything we can to exploit that to make it even better and better and better and better.” The governor also offered his support for some version of a controversial “forced pooling” bill that could make holdout mineral owners sign leases. 

As natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale region of North Central West Virginia and the state’s Northern Panhandle has increased over the last decade, so have complaints and concerns from residents in those communities about all manner of impacts on their lives.

When lawmakers and the Tomblin administration passed a new state law to try to better regulate modern horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, many concerns of local citizens were not addressed. Tomblin’s bill was weaker than one recommended by a legislative committee that spent months reviewing the issue. 

An earlier Tomblin executive order on the issue was also weakened after private discussions with oil and gas lobbyists, and the governor’s office later refused to make public correspondence with the industry about that order.

In the final legislation, action on some key issues for citizens — concerns about air quality, noise and excessive light, questions about whether jobs were going to local residents and about the safety of waste disposal practices — were put off while additional studies of those matters were conducted.

The DEP later fell behind on getting those studies finished, and, even after extensive briefings on the eventual findings, lawmakers have declined to take additional actions to address problems the studies identified. Instead, lawmakers have tried to push several bills that would erode permit requirements for drilling operations and take away the rights of citizens to file certain types of lawsuits against those activities. Those bills have so far failed, at least partly because of opposition from Huffman while he was DEP secretary.

When she returned as the DEP’s environmental advocate in June 2014, one of the issues Wendy Radcliff worked on was the flood of complaints the DEP was receiving from residents near various operations of the oil and gas industry. The advocate office worked with others in the DEP to schedule public meetings and to plan visits to the area so Huffman and other top agency officials could get a first-hand look at what residents were concerned about. 

Doddridge County resident Tom Bates attended some of those meetings to tell DEP officials about what it was like for his family when a large natural gas compressor station moved in across the road. Compressor stations use large engines — in the case of the one near Bates, 11 of them — to keep natural gas constantly pressurized while it is moved for many miles through various types of pipelines.

“We were trying to get them to do something about the noise,” Bates recalled last week. “At night it lights up our front yard, and we can hear the engines inside our house.”

Bates described watching a potted plant vibrate across a nightstand in his bedroom because of the shaking from the rumble of the engines. “We are for oil and gas as far as energy independence and local jobs,” Bates said. “We just think it needs to be done the right way.”

Bates was disappointed to hear the new DEP leadership had deleted the noise and light protections. “I wasn’t aware of that at all,” Bates said. “That’s very discouraging. I think there should be rules and regulations.”

‘This uncertainty is unacceptable’

While the legislatively mandated study of the issue did not find clear violations of noise or light standards, it did recommend the industry pay more attention to such matters.

So, in August 2015, the DEP proposed a change in one of the types of permits it issues for compressor stations and dewatering facilities associated with the natural gas industry.

Such facilities would normally have to obtain a standard DEP air pollution permit, one that is applied for and reviewed individually. But to save the industry time in getting approval, the DEP also offers companies the ability to have such facilities authorized under a general permit. The general permit spells out standard construction and operating restrictions, and if companies agree to them up front, they avoid the most time-consuming individual permit process.

The change the DEP proposed was to simply insert a line into the general permit — called G35 — that said any facilities authorized under that permit “shall not create a nuisance to the surrounding community by way of unreasonable noise and light during operations.”

When the DEP sought public comment on that proposal, local residents and citizen groups turned out to support it, and industry officials spoke up to oppose it. For example, Lyn Bordo described what it was like to live near a compressor station along the Doddridge-Ritchie county line.

“Most days, especially mornings, I feel like I am living on an airport runway,” Bordo told the DEP, according to an agency response to public comments.

On the other hand, Antero Resources Inc. complained that the DEP’s proposed language did not really provide a standard for what constitutes a nuisance.

“Absent a standard, the permittee and the agency have no tangible means of measuring compliance,” Antero said. “This uncertainty is unacceptable.”

On Dec. 18, 2015, the DEP finalized the changes to the general permit, which then became known as G35-C, because it was a revision of the original G35.

About a month later, on Jan. 15, 2016, Charleston lawyer David L. Yaussy, appealed the changes to the state Air Quality Board on behalf of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association. Yaussy challenged a variety of changes the DEP had made to the general permit, including the addition of the language about noise and light.

Board members held a hearing in March 2016. Jerry Williams, a DEP air quality engineer who wrote the permit, testified that the noise and light language was added because, “Historically, we’ve had issues from citizens who live nearby these facilities, who have provided objections to these facilities based on those issues. If a citizen comments on things, we take those issues very seriously.”

On Aug. 26, 2016, the air board issued a 14-page final order. The board ordered the DEP to make some changes in other parts of the general permit, but upheld the noise and light language.

Board members noted gas companies didn’t have to use the general permit and could avoid the noise and light language by going through the process of seeking an individual permit for compressor stations or similar facilities.

Regarding the industry argument that the DEP’s air office did not have any legal authority to regulate noise or light, the board ruled language in state law giving the agency the authority to “impose any reasonable condition” as part of the general permit gave the DEP the authority it needed.

The oil and gas organization had the right to appeal the air board’s decision to Kanawha Circuit Court within 30 days, but it did not do so.

Source: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/20170211/dep-eliminates-protections-for-noise-light-from-natural-gas-facilities#sthash.vwRK3CSU.dpuf

(Part 3 of this Article to be posted here tomorrow).

WV Legislature Gone Amuk

Thou Shalt Not Sue in West Virginia, says SB-508

From an Article by Dory Hippauf, Frackorporation, February 7, 2016

Approximately 220 nuisance lawsuits have been filed in West Virginia  over the past 3 years against such drilling/fracking companies such as Antero Resources, EQT and Hall Drilling.

WV is considered a national energy hub, leading the nation in net interstate electricity exports and underground coal mine production, while experiencing a growing natural gas industry as a result of the Great Shale Gas Rush. Overall, it produces 15% of the nation’s fossil fuel energy. The state’s underground natural gas storage represents 6% of the nation’s total, and overall it has 5.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas reserves through 2008 estimates.

Beneath WV is the Marcellus Shale and its vast natural gas resource. The natural gas trapped in the Marcellus Shale was considered to be unrecoverable until approximately 10 years ago. Technological improvements through a combination of chemicals, horizontal drilling and “fracking” changed all that.

Along with the natural gas hyped promise of “jobs” and money came numerous problems to residents, including water contamination, air pollution, noise, traffic, and more. Living the drill in WV (and elsewhere) means sleepless nights from the noise and lights coming from a well pad, it means keeping windows closed – even in the summer months – to prevent breathing in emissions. It means putting up with thousands of trucks running 24/7 up and down rural roads and kicking up dust.

IT IS A NUISANCE —

Residents have little recourse to stop or curtail the drilling except through the courts and this has led to the increase of filing Nuisance Lawsuits.

In a nuisance lawsuit, a plaintiff is basically saying to the defendant, “Your action is interfering with my enjoyment of my property; therefore, you must stop acting in that manner.”

The WV Senate agrees it is a nuisance, but not to the WV residents. Nuisance lawsuits are being viewed as a nuisance to the drilling corporations, factory farms, and other giant industries. The WV Senate is going to fix that problem by prohibiting Nuisance lawsuits.

WV Senators Ferns, Stollings, Kirkendoll, Blair, Carmichael, Mullins and Palumbo introduced Senate Bill 508 (SB508) on Thursday, February 4, 2016.

(Emphasis added) The purpose of this bill is to establish the standards applicable to the common law claim for private nuisance. The bill lists elements and establishes requirements including the requirement that physical property damage or bodily injury exist before a person can seek damages for a private nuisance. The bill also prohibits private nuisance claims if the activity at issue is conducted pursuant to and in compliance with a permit, license or other approval by a state or federal agency or other entity. The bill also requires a plaintiff to have either an ownership interest or possessory interest in the property at issue to have standing to bring a private nuisance claim.

SB508 will strip way West Virginians right to enjoy their property. Mining or Drilling operations disrupting your sleep? You won’t be able to sue.

Is a factory farm runoff or odors making you sick? You won’t be able to sue. Noise from a strip club next door too loud? You won’t be able to sue.

An industrial operation causing problems in your neighborhood? You won’t be able to sue.

Barking dogs from a Kennel business? If they have a municipal, state or federal permit – there won’t be anything you can do about it.

ALEC ORIGINS —

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a right-wing bill mill, has written far-reaching Right to Farm Act as one of its over 800 “model bills” that it encourages state legislators to pass. The bill would bar any lawsuits by neighbors claiming nuisance from any activities that are typical in farming, including industrial agriculture.

Although the ALEC “Right to Farm” bills pertain to industrial or factory farming, its purpose is to stop Nuisance lawsuits from being a nuisance to the industry.

Perhaps seeking to kill several pesky nuisance lawsuit issues in one blow, SB508 contains much broader language than just being “farm” specific. As long as any business or activity has a municipal, state or federal agency issued permit a nuisance lawsuit cannot be filed.

SB508 has been referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

West Virginians who wish to preserve their rights to enjoy their property must to take action now and stop SB508!

>>> Dory Hippauf became involved with the “fracking” issue when a landman came knocking on her door, instead of signing a lease she joined the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition and was soon the chair of the research committee. Although the research involved all aspects of Natural Gas activities, she has focused her personal time on “Connecting the Dots” of Corporations and Politicians. Dory was one of 3 winners of the 1st Annual FracTracker and Halt the Harm Environmental Stewardship award in Septmber 2015.

Public Health Risks are Significant

New research suggests increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes closer to active unconventional natural gas wells

From the News Release, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD (10/8/15)

Expectant mothers who live near active natural gas wells operated by the fracking industry in Pennsylvania are at an increased risk of giving birth prematurely and for having high-risk pregnancies, new Johns Hopkins public health research suggests.

The findings, published online last week in the journal Epidemiology, shed light on some of the possible adverse health outcomes associated with the fracking industry, which has been booming in the decade since the first wells were drilled. Health officials have been concerned about the effect of this type of drilling on air and water quality, as well as the stress of living near a well where just developing the site of the well can require 1,000 truck trips on once-quiet roads.

“The growth in the fracking industry has gotten way out ahead of our ability to assess what the environmental and, just as importantly, public health impacts are,” says study leader Brian S. Schwartz, MD, a professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Bloomberg School. “More than 8,000 unconventional gas wells have been drilled in Pennsylvania alone and we’re allowing this while knowing almost nothing about what it can do to health. Our research adds evidence to the very few studies that have been done in showing adverse health outcomes associated with the fracking industry.”

In Pennsylvania in 2006, there were fewer than 100 unconventional gas wells; now there are more than 8,000.

For his study, Schwartz and his colleagues analyzed data from Geisinger Health System, which covers 40 counties in north and central Pennsylvania. They studied the records of 9,384 mothers who gave birth to 10,946 babies between January 2009 and January 2013. They compared that data with information about wells drilled for fracking and looked at how close they were to the homes of the pregnant mothers as well as what stage of drilling the wells were in, how deep the wells were drilled and how much gas was being produced at the wells during the mothers’ pregnancies. Using this information, they developed an index of how active each of the wells were and how close they were to the women.

The researchers found that living in the most active quartile of drilling and production activity was associated with a 40 percent increase in the likelihood of a woman giving birth before 37 weeks of gestation (considered pre-term) and a 30 percent increase in the chance that an obstetrician had labeled their pregnancy “high-risk,” a designation that can include factors such as elevated blood pressure or excessive weight gain during pregnancy. When looking at all of the pregnancies in the study, 11 percent of babies were born preterm, with the majority (79 percent) born between 32 and 36 weeks.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that preterm-related causes of death together accounted for 35 percent of all infant deaths in 2010, more than any other single cause. Being born prematurely is also a leading cause of long-term neurological disabilities in children. Preterm birth cost the U.S. health care system more than $26 billion in 2005, they say.

While the study can’t pinpoint why the pregnant women had worse outcomes near the most active wells, Schwartz says that every step of the drilling process has an environmental impact. When the well pads are created, diesel equipment is used to clear acres of land, transport equipment and drill the wells themselves.

Drilling down thousands of feet and then horizontally many more thousands of feet requires heavy equipment to break up the shale where the gas sits. Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) then involves injecting millions of liters of water mixed with chemicals and sand to fracture the shale. The fluids are then pumped back to the surface. The gas itself also releases pollutants.

Schwartz also says that having a well developed nearby results in increased noise, road traffic and other changes that can increase maternal stress levels. “Now that we know this is happening we’d like to figure out why,” Schwartz says. “Is it air quality? Is it the stress? They’re the two leading candidates in our minds at this point.”

Energy companies moved to natural gas wells drilled using fracking when gas prices were high and supplies were low. While New York State has banned fracking altogether and there is a moratorium on it in Maryland, Pennsylvania has embraced the industry.

At the peak in 2011, Pennsylvania drilled 1,900 wells and gas was $12.11 per thousand cubic feet. And while production is down as prices have plummeted – the state is on track for fewer than 500 new wells in 2015 with the price at $3.69 per thousand cubic feet in July – Schwartz predicts the economy will again shift and fracking will again be back in favor.

Nevertheless, Schwartz says policymakers must understand there may be real risks as they make decisions on future wells. While the research is still in its infancy, Schwartz says everything that has come out so far should give decision makers cause for concern.

“The first few studies have all shown health impacts,” he says. “Policymakers need to consider findings like these in thinking about how they allow this industry to go forward.”

“Unconventional Natural Gas Development and Birth Outcomes in Pennsylvania, USA” was written by Joan A. Casey, David A. Savitz, Sara G. Rasmussen, Elizabeth L. Ogburn, Jonathan Pollak, Dione G. Mercer and Brian S. Schwartz.The study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (ES023675-01, ES071541), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Heath & Society Scholars Program and the National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship.

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See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

Here is Some Attitude and Important Facts on Fracking

Commentary by S. Tom Bond, Retired Chemistry Professor & Resident Farmer, Lewis County, WV, January 1, 2015

It’s a lie to call the people fighting fracking in Central West Virginia “environmentalists.” None of them belonged to environmental groups before fracking came along (myself excepted, more about that below). They are property owners, perhaps a little better educated than average, and most of them have been out in the world at some time in their lives to see what it’s like elsewhere. We chose to live here, connected to the biological world, in peace and serenity.

What we are going to lose is our families’ health and property – neither of which is ever counted as a cost of fracking. It is “suck it up fellow, you don’t know what you are talking about,” if there is any reply at all to our complaint.

It is not hard to see what happens as a result of fracking – take a tour nearby and have a look, if you have the courage. Talk to people where it is going on. They are glad to warn you. Look for “water buffalos,” a sign of lost or contaminated water. Notice the broad gravel roads up steep hills and the drilling platforms (which require many acres of ground) being reduced to subsoil and then covered with enough crushed rock to support water trucks and rigs in any kind of weather.

Notice miles of forest cut for pipeline right of way, timber production gone for as long as the pipelines are in use. If you go near the drilling rigs, notice the noise and the lights at night. And day or night, notice the flares of the very gas they come to capture. As you drive along back roads, notice the compressor stations which will provide excess light, noise and “odeur de hydrocarbure” for decades for the “lucky” people who live there.

If you are the stay-at-home type, a flight over the fracking fields via Goggle Earth might be the ticket. Order up a town West of I-79 and fly around over the country side at a few thousand feet. Jarvisville, WV, would be a good choice. You don’t have to look hard to find a pipeline, then follow it to the well pads it serves. Keep in mind that fracking is just getting started in WV. If all goes as planned, there will be a drilling pad with roads and pipelines on almost every square mile.

Having environmental concern is certainly proper. There are a lot of things to worry about today. If it weren’t for the Koch brothers and others like them in the hydrocarbon industries who pump millions into disinformation, we’d all agree about global warming. Some 97% of scientists agree it is happening.

What does this development do for property values (look up “property values near fracking” on the net, but don’t forget “property values near sand mines,” because the land is “screwed up” in Wisconsin and Minnesota, with mining of proppant sand for fracking). What about the cost and discomfort due to sickness caused by fracking (look up fracking disease).

It is as though property rights, your right not to be injured by someone else, right to enjoy your peace and quiet is revoked whenever someone wants to frack. Is the energy situation so bad the nation has to cause asthma and abortions to get energy?

Think about it. Environment is a general classification, including all kinds of harm to the natural, biological world, from effects on tiny creatures to redwood trees and polar bears and whales. This concern is a good thing. The human race is capable of making chemicals in quantities which decrease the life sustaining capability of the biosphere. It appears the biosphere has no natural defense, but making money always has a strong offense.

However, people in central West Virginia are worried about particulars. Their concerns are on the ground and right now. It is their lives, their families, and their neighbors they are talking about.

“In the interest of full disclosure,” as they say, this author was a member of a small environmental group, Guardians of the West Fork, before fracking became a concern. The Guardians principal business is cleaning up “acid mine water” from mines abandoned one hundred years ago, using tax money. If you have worked around old mines, oil and gas remains from the first wave of petroleum exploitation running from the 1880′s to the 1930′s and strip mining, as I have, you get a pretty good idea of what mineral extracting industries get away with. You recognize the land goes on forever, giving food, timber, fiber, clean water, and cleaning the atmosphere, but mineral extraction is a flash in time, depreciating the land’s capacity to produce. Understanding this, sort of gives you an attitude.

Alternate energy is desperately needed. And it is being blocked by many of the same people who are benefitting handsomely by reducing our health as well as abridging our right to enjoy and profit from our own property. That’s not an attitude, that’s a fact.

See also:  www.FrackCheckWV.net and www.marcellus-shale.us

Fracking & Frackers are Beyond Reason

Baker-Hughes and Susan G. Komen Using Stupid Tricks!

From a Post by Stefanie Spear, EcoWatch.com, December 4, 2014

Even Susan G. Komen’s own website shares the chemicals from fracking that are linked to breast cancer, but it didn’t stop them from partnering with oil and gas giant Baker Hughes, which donated $100,000 to Komen in October for the “Doing Our Bit for the Cure” campaign where 1,000 fracking drill bits were painted pink.

The viral post on EcoWatch, written by breast cancer survivor and fracking activist Sandra Steingraber, exposed the hypocrisy of this campaign. Now, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart takes this outrageous partnership to new heights.

Watch this hilarious segment where The Daily Show‘s Samantha Bee meets Karuna Jaggar, executive director of Breast Cancer Action, to fully uncover the stupidity of pink fracking.

See also:

Pinkwashing: Fracking Company Teams Up With Susan G. Komen to ‘End Breast Cancer Forever’

Tell Susan G. Komen Don’t Frack With Our Health

This article is endorsed by Duane Nichols, www.FrackCheckWV.net

Forced Pooling is like Eminent Domain

WV Lawmakers, interest groups leery of ‘fair pooling’ proposal

From the Article by David Beard, Morgantown Dominion Post, November 21, 2014

Charleston, WV — Horizontal gas well mineral tract pooling will be on the legislative calendar this session. Legislators and various interest groups have reservations about the pooling proposal presented this week. Leaders of the Independent Oil and Gas Association — West Virginia (IOGA) and the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association (WVONGA) described what they termed a “fair pooling” proposal to legislators.

The purpose of the proposed bill is to enable industry to pool unwilling mineral owners into a production unit of combined mineral tracts. In its current form, it states that an operator must have agreements with mineral owners totaling a 67 percent supermajority of the unit’s acreage before it can apply to the Natural Gas Conservation Commission for a pooling order.

The operator must extend good-faith offers to unwilling leaseholders. Proposed compensation must be market value — current code says “just and reasonable.” Mineral owners who don’t reach an agreement can request a hearing before the commission, at which evidence of market values is presented.

Delegate John Shott, R-Mercer, was concerned about the transparency of the evidence presented regarding market value. Jim McKinney, with IOGA, and Kevin Ellis, with WVONGA, said the commission can compel the operator to reveal that information. Before that point, though, company landmen negotiate terms with the owners, based on a range of prices set by the company.Ellis likened it to a car deal. They’re not going to start with the high figure, and they’re not going to tell the owner what everyone else is getting.

Delegate Barbara Evens Fleischauer, D-Monongalia, also raised questions about that and asked about substituting “fair market value” for “just and reasonable” in the bill. “You’re taking away people’s private property rights, no matter how you sugar coat it,” she said.

McKinney disagreed, saying it’s not a taking, it’s fair compensation. And both leaders said industry thinks “just and reasonable” essentially means the same thing. After the meeting, Fleischauer remained skeptical about industry’s view.

Also after the meeting, Ron Hayhurst, with the West Virginia Royalty Owners Association, expressed some skepticism about the proposal. “What the bill does is give all the power to the commission with no parameters they can work within.” And the commission is largely industry-oriented, he said. He believes pooling orders will still include deductions off royalty, which can effectively reduce a 12.5 percent royalty to 6.5 percent.

“Hopefully, next month we’ll get a chance to talk about it,” he said. “We want wells drilled. We just don’t want royalty owners taken in West Virginia.” He noted that most of the major operators are based out of state and take their money there: Antero in Colorado, EQT in Pittsburgh, and Chesapeake in Oklahoma.

Tom Huber, also with the association, said he’s concerned about market-based values discussed in the proposal. In the real estate market, prices are on the deed and are public information, he said. “They’re adamantly opposed to revealing to the public how much they’re paying in any given area. That’s why they oppose fair market value. … We’re talking real estate here. This is not a car deal. … I think that was a little disingenuous.”

The industry presenters said that the hearing process is designed to be easy and friendly, and mineral owners shouldn’t need to hire lawyers. David McMahon, co-founder of the West Virginia Surface Owners Rights Organization, questioned that. “Forced pooling is highly technical. Anybody that goes into this ought to at least sit down with a lawyer and talk about what they need to say and what evidence they need to have.” Royalty owners don’t necessarily have representation on the commission, he said, and no one on the commission has expertise in property values. Another problem: The owner may not get to see the evidence, McMahon said.

McKinney and Ellis talked about the evidence being presented under seal, and it wasn’t clear if the mineral owner or only the commission would see it, or what kind of evidence would be presented. “That’s putting more trust in the commission than for any administrative proceeding that I know about.”

McMahon also questioned the market value terminology. Market value is what everybody’s paying, he said, which may not reflect the true value of the land. “Fair market value is what it’s worth to someone with a knowledge of what’s going on and access to the facts. … I think it ought to be based on what it’s worth to the industry.”

That, he said, is several thousand dollars an acre signing bonus and 20 percent total royalty.

Industrialization of Rural WV

WV Surface Owners’ Rights Organization Meets in Harrison County

Meeting Summary by Julie Archer and  Tom Bond, August 25, 2014

The WV Surface Owners’ Rights Organization (WV-SORO) held a membership meeting at Salem International University in Salem, WV on Saturday, August 23rd.  The purpose was to enlist new members, educate members and their guests about issues related to gas drilling and to discuss problems members face.  About 70 were present.

After an Introduction by Julie Archer, the first feature was a Panel on Pipelines.  The three presenters were Nils Nichols of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC);  Joseph Cochran of the Division of Water and Waste Management, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP): and Ed Wade of Wetzel County Action Group (WCAG).

Mr. Nichols is Director of the Division on Pipeline Regulation.  He said there are three recognized components of the gas production industry; (i). Production;  (ii). Transmission takes the gas from the line the producer puts it in, to the company that sells it to the customer; and (iii). Distributors take it from the large volume gas transmission company to the customer, which may be an industry, a gas-fired electrical generator or a homeowner.  FERC is mostly concerned with transmission pipelines, which are relatively large diameter lines.

The steps FERC uses are:  1. Determine there is a need.  2. Determine alternate routes and then hold “scoping” meetings to determine reaction.  3. Interpret findings to determine what best meets public interest.  4.  Public meetings and review of voluntary easements to minimize eminent domain.  5. Final Certification.  Once FERC approves the project, if agreements cannot be negotiated with landowners, the company may acquire an easement using eminent domain with a court determining compensation. He indicated compensation is based on fair market value, but “you have to fight for your rights.”

Mr. Cochran said DEP mostly permits smaller short lines of 1 to 3 miles from the well pad to the midstream line.  When the application arrives in the office with all the details on the form filled in and if it looks like it will work on paper, the permit is granted.  Most of their concern is with new pipelines.  Both men indicated that once a proposed pipeline is determined to be able to do its job, it goes through and is seldom rejected.

Ed Wade of the Wetzel County Action Group showed pictures of what has happened on pipelines, mostly in Wetzel County.  They included drill dust and dust after dynamite blasts in a creek, numerous slips in back fill where a pipeline goes up a hill, including one that ruptured the gas line.  Also use of concrete to support pipelines on extremely steep hills, animals in the ditch due to fragmentation of the animal’s habitat,  putting a new line on an old right of way, silt, air pollution from a pipeline site, an accidentally burned excavator and open burning.  The pipeline brings pig launchers, compressor stations, access roads, noise, odors, lights and toward the end of its life, leaked gas, and danger of fire and explosion.

After the presentations there was a Question and Answer Session moderated by Dave McMahon.  Some of the questions were:

Will drilling increase the cost of my homeowner’s liability insurance?

What can you do to keep trespassers out after the drilling is done and the pipeline is laid?

What is the nature of the impairment on my property due to a pipeline?

If someone comes on my property, is it trespassing?  (The answer to this one is, “No, you must tell them to stay out or build a fence around it, or cultivate the ground, or post the land.)

After lunch, each person introduced him or herself and many stated the problem that brought them to SORO.  Complaints heard were: issues with leasing – three pipelines on her land by three different companies – prevented from getting to work – very little help from DEP with coal and gas – quality of life – they are getting to the intimidation stage with me, they said they were going to send out the bad guys – floodplain issues – they told me to work with the driller, not the circuit court – they told me when the drilling is done the effect is over – there is no effect unless it can be measured.

Organizations represented were Wetzel County Action Group, Guardians of the West Fork, WV Host Farms, FrackCheckWV, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Doddridge County Watershed Association, Friends of the Hughes, Middle Island Conservation Group, WV Chapter of the Sierra Club and WV Highlands Conservancy.

There was an Overview of SORO history and activities by Julie Archer.  Next was a section titled Results and Recommendations from Horizontal Well Act Studies.  It was a presentation by David Mahon about research mandated by the Horizontal Well Control Act the legislature passed in 2011.

One of the studies, by Dr. Michael McCawley at WVU looked at noise, light dust and other air pollution as they relate to how close wells can be to peoples’ homes. The report cited research that showed an increased risk of cancer for residents within one-half mile of a drilling operation.  Another study showed property values were affected if a well was within 1,500 feet in Texas.  A sociology research project conducted by WVU showed that landowners reported twice as many problems if they were within 1,500 feet.

Dr. McCawley’s research showed that noise, light, dust and other air pollution was not confined to the well site.  In response, DEP recommended that the legislature increase the setback distance “to provide for a more consistent and protective safe guard for residence in effective areas.” However, the DEP declined to propose any new rules based on the studies because it said “there were no indication of a public health emergency or threat” – a far more stringent standard than is reasonable for the public protection.

Pit studies showed inspectors only targeted readily apparent problems such as slips and slides, while not recognizing indicators or warning signs that might result in pit failures. Eight out of the fifteen pits studies didn’t agree with the engineers plans, and only one of the fifteen had soil conforming to the type specified by the DEP.  One concluded companies can’t be trusted.

After a break there was a section titled Moving Forward/Setting Priorities, which involved group discussions.  The following questions were asked to frame the discussion: What are the most pressing problems related to oil and gas drilling in West Virginia? What should be done to address the problems?  What should SORO do in response to these problems? The facilitator was Gary Zuckett.

Problems indentified included air pollution, water contamination, water use, improper waste disposal, truck traffic and damage to roads.  Lack of enforcement and lack of accountability with respect to industry activities and practices, permitting decisions made by the DEP and actions taken by the legislature were also major concerns. Suggested actions that should be taken to these problems included making changes to drilling laws, regulations and enforcement; engaging more citizens in pushing for better regulation and funding for enforcement; and documenting health impacts and environmental problems to help make the case for stronger regulations. Actions SORO could take in response to these issues included public education efforts to get more people involved; continued lobbying and being a voice for landowners at the legislature; continuing to explore litigation options and file lawsuits; and providing input, assisting and working with those documenting health impacts.

After the discussion, there was a Wrap-Up and Evaluation session, then dinner.  The evening session was a showing of the documentary film “Triple Divide” and a discussion of it.     [To contact WV-SORO: 304-346-5891, julie@wvsoro.org, www.wvsoro.org ]

Some 24 Salem WV Area Residents File Suit Over Fracking Operations

From the Article by Matt Harvey, Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram, October 11, 2013

CLARKSBURG — Twenty-four Salem area residents have sued Antero Resources Corp. and a leasing partner, claiming the Denver energy company’s operations have substantially hindered their quality of life.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the residents by the Hill, Peterson, Carper, Bee & Deitzler law firm of Charleston. Defendants are Antero Resources, Antero Resources Blueston and Hall Drilling LLC.

“Since living in Harrison County, the Plaintiffs had come to expect and enjoy the quiet, fresh air, fresh water, privacy, darkness of night and overall peacefulness of the area,” the lawsuit contends.

Antero’s hydraulic fracturing ventures have ruined water wells, damaged roads and homes (the latter through vibration) and created excessive traffic, light, noise and diesel fumes, the lawsuit alleges. Additionally, some of the defendants’ employees have harassed or menaced the residents, the lawsuit alleges.

The plaintiffs live on Stillhouse Road, Cherry Camp Road, Rainbow Ranch Road and Haymond Woods Road. They are requesting a jury trial seeking damages.

A call to Antero Resources’ Denver headquarters went into an answering service late Thursday afternoon. A message left with an Antero employee at the company’s Bridgeport office wasn’t immediately returned.

The case has been assigned to Harrison Chief Judge James A. Matish.